Request Approval Using Blockchain Technology

• US 20200136803A1
• Filed: 10/30/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Prasad, Parmeshwr, Choubey, Shishir
• Granted Patent: US 10,855,447 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0637 Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0643 Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3213 using tickets or tokens, e.g. Kerberos network architectures or network communication protocols for entities authentication using tickets in a packet data network H04L63/0807
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and processor-readable storage media for request approval using blockchain technology are provided herein. An example computer-implemented method includes initiating creation of a blockchain network comprising multiple devices corresponding to required sub-requests configured for a particular request for approval transaction; implementing, at a given one of the devices, a distinct block in the blockchain network, wherein the block comprises cryptographic information pertaining to the particular request for approval transaction, a decision value for one or more of the sub-requests, and a count of the cryptographic tokens remaining in the blockchain network; broadcasting, from the given device to the remaining devices, information pertaining to the block; removing at least one cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network in response to each implemented block that corresponds to approval of a required sub-request; and granting the particular request in response to removal of all of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising steps of:

initiating creation of a blockchain network comprising multiple devices corresponding to multiple required sub-requests configured for a particular request for approval transaction, wherein the blockchain network further comprises multiple cryptographic tokens corresponding to the multiple devices;

implementing, at a given one of the multiple devices, a distinct block in the blockchain network, wherein the implemented block comprises cryptographic information pertaining to the particular request for approval transaction, a decision value for one or more of the required sub-requests, and a count of the cryptographic tokens remaining in the blockchain network;

broadcasting, from the given device to the remaining devices within the blockchain network, information pertaining to the implemented block;

removing at least one of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network in response to each implemented block that corresponds to approval of a required sub-request; and

granting the particular request for approval transaction in response to removal of all of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network;

wherein the steps are performed by at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the blockchain network comprises a private blockchain network.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying the blockchain network in connection with a subsequent distinct request for approval transaction.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein modifying the blockchain network comprises adding one or more devices to the blockchain network.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein modifying the blockchain network comprises removing one or more devices from the blockchain network.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic information comprises a cryptographic hash of one or more items of data associated with the particular request for approval transaction.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic information comprises broadcast addresses for all of the multiple devices within the blockchain network.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

synchronizing, across all implemented blocks, the count of the cryptographic tokens remaining in the blockchain network upon removal of at least one of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a distinct smart contract for each of the multiple devices of the created blockchain network, wherein each smart contract comprises a software protocol pertaining to carrying out at least a portion of the particular request for approval transaction.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the software protocol comprises one or more temporal parameters associated with the particular request for approval transaction.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the software protocol comprises one or more dependencies associated with the particular request for approval transaction.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein removing the at least one cryptographic token comprises removing the at least one cryptographic token from the blockchain network upon execution of the smart contract for the given device.

13. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored therein program code of one or more software programs, wherein the program code when executed by at least one processing device causes the at least one processing device:

to initiate creation of a blockchain network comprising multiple devices corresponding to multiple required sub-requests configured for a particular request for approval transaction, wherein the blockchain network further comprises multiple cryptographic tokens corresponding to the multiple devices;

to implement, at a given one of the multiple devices, a distinct block in the blockchain network, wherein the implemented block comprises cryptographic information pertaining to the particular request for approval transaction, a decision value for one or more of the required sub-requests, and a count of the cryptographic tokens remaining in the blockchain network;

to broadcast, from the given device to the remaining devices within the blockchain network, information pertaining to the implemented block;

to remove at least one of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network in response to each implemented block that corresponds to approval of a required sub-request; and

to grant the particular request for approval transaction in response to removal of all of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network.

14. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the program code when executed by the at least one processing device causes the at least one processing device:

to modify the blockchain network in connection with a subsequent distinct request for approval transaction.

15. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein modifying the blockchain network comprises at least one of adding one or more devices to the blockchain network and removing one or more devices from the blockchain network.

16. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the program code when executed by the at least one processing device causes the at least one processing device:

to generate a distinct smart contract for each of the multiple devices of the created blockchain network, wherein each smart contract comprises a software protocol pertaining to carrying out at least a portion of the particular request for approval transaction.

17. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory;

the at least one processing device being configured;

to initiate creation of a blockchain network comprising multiple devices corresponding to multiple required sub-requests configured for a particular request for approval transaction, wherein the blockchain network further comprises multiple cryptographic tokens corresponding to the multiple devices;

to implement, at a given one of the multiple devices, a distinct block in the blockchain network, wherein the implemented block comprises cryptographic information pertaining to the particular request for approval transaction, a decision value for one or more of the required sub-requests, and a count of the cryptographic tokens remaining in the blockchain network;

to broadcast, from the given device to the remaining devices within the blockchain network, information pertaining to the implemented block;

to remove at least one of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network in response to each implemented block that corresponds to approval of a required sub-request; and

to grant the particular request for approval transaction in response to removal of all of the cryptographic tokens from the blockchain network.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one process device being further configured:

to modify the blockchain network in connection with a subsequent distinct request for approval transaction.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein modifying the blockchain network comprises at least one of adding one or more devices to the blockchain network and removing one or more devices from the blockchain network.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one process device being further configured:

to generate a distinct smart contract for each of the multiple devices of the created blockchain network, wherein each smart contract comprises a software protocol pertaining to carrying out at least a portion of the particular request for approval transaction.